


Taking the Stage

by rose95



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Broadway AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-07 17:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8808985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose95/pseuds/rose95
Summary: Yuuri Katsuki returns to his hometown after completely flubbing his first lead role. He thinks that he's out of showbusiness for good when the famous Russian star Victor Nikiforov shows up to be his new acting coach. Can Victor help Yuuri gain enough confidence to get back on stage?





	1. Act 1: Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Has this been done before? I haven't seen anything, and it seemed like a fun idea. Let me know if someone else has done it and I'll take this down!

       Yuuri sighed as he heard the faint click of the lock as he closed the door to his apartment for the last time. Dropping his head against the cool wooden frame, he tried to calm his breathing. Failure, failure, failure…as hard as he tried, he couldn’t shake the voice in his head telling him that coming to New York was a terrible idea in the first place.

       It had been about 5 months since Yuuri landed his first lead role on Broadway, and about 6 weeks since he flubbed his opening show. After weeks of rehearsals, Yuuri knew every line and movement of the character—a dashing young soldier headed off to the front lines—but when the curtain rose…he didn’t want to think about it.

       His performance opening night had been paramount to career suicide. Even when his director allowed Yuuri to perform as an understudy in the next few rehearsals, his acting had been stiff, his singing and dancing always a few beats off. He quit a week later. He had been trying again the past few weeks. Going out to auditions while on his breaks from a coffee shop near his apartment. But with word circulating about his performance, there wasn’t much work available. So here he was, running tail between his legs back to his parents’ onsen in Japan.

       Catching a cab to the airport, he felt a soft buzzing in his pocket.

 **Phichit** : Hey buddy, let me know if you get there safe. We’ll miss you!

       Yuuri paused for a moment. He knew Phichit meant well, but the message made Yuuri’s stomach clench in another bout of hopelessness. Phichit, a fellow actor, had introduced Yuuri to the world of Broadway. They had spent hours together running lines and auditioning in the little apartment they shared. Yuuri hated leaving him, but knew that it was for the best. Phichit didn’t need to be spending time with someone like him. He shoved the phone back in his pocket.

* * *

 

       It was brisk and clear when he stepped off of the train in Hasetsu. He spent a few minutes just sitting on the platform, reluctant to finally return home. There was another buzz.

 **Phichit:** Hey~ not to be annoying or anything, but it’s been forever. I don’t even know if I’m using this app to message you correctly, so please let me know if you’re alive?

 **Phichit:** If I don’t hear back by tomorrow I’m just assuming you’ve been kidnapped, and will notify the police.

 **Phichit:** YuuUURIII

       An absentminded smile crept up Yuuri’s face. He sniffled from the chill as he wrote,

 **Yuuri:** Pls no police. Just got back to Hasetsu.

       He was actively ignoring the onslaught of responses when he saw a familiar head bobbing above the crowd. She was older than he remembered. Which was obvious, he rationalized, because it had been a year or two since the last time she flew out to visit him in the US. Minako, if older, was just as beautiful. Her long dancer’s body still contained the vibrant energy that had made her so successful. Every movement she made looking for Yuuri a reminder of her talent for elegance. The kind and gentle demeanor she showed to the public was all a façade of course, as evidenced by the sharp punch she landed on his shoulder the second she recognized him on the bench.

       “Yuuri!” she yelled, drawing him up into her arms. Yuuri took a deep breath. Maybe it wasn’t so bad being home. 


	2. Act 1: The Little Theatre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri returns to his old high school and sees and old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Any constructive criticism is welcome! This is my first piece, so I'm not quite sure what I'm doing.

Act I: The Little Theatre

 

            Yuuri was _suffocating._ The humid air of the onsen was making it harder and harder for him to catch his breath. It was the air, he told himself. It had nothing to do with the silver-haired Russian being interviewed on the television screen. Minako had claimed the remote in their small family room, frantically setting the channel to the Tony Awards. At first, Yuuri had smiled, seeing familiar faces walking past reporters into the venue. Once he saw Victor though…he couldn’t stay there any longer.

            Pushing past his sister, Yuuri ran out into street. Wheezing more than he might have liked, Yuuri made it down to a familiar wood and cinderblock building. 5 years later, his old high school looked exactly the same. Yuuri had attended a school for the performing arts, which had a policy of allowing alumni to practice in some of its rooms. Hoping it wasn’t locked for the night, Yuuri tried the handle.

            The door squeaked a little as he pushed through. He blushed, spying Yuko walking towards him with a small key in her hands.

 

“Yuko, it’s been a while…” he started, sliding his foot across the floor. He tried not to wince when she looked confused for a moment.

 

“Yuuri! I can’t believe that it’s you! Did you come to use one of the practice rooms?” Yuko bounced with excitement. She was just as cute as he remembered.

 

“Well…”

 

“You just want to practice alone, right? I’ll keep it off the books, so you don’t have to worry about anyone asking you questions. I have your back.”

 

“Thanks, Yuko.” Yuuri gave her a soft smile as he walked past her into the old rooms. They had studied here together, both fascinated by Western theatre. They had spent countless hours together heads bent over music, testing out the harmonies from the latest hits in New York. Yuuri cried for a week when Yuko’s parents took her overseas to see their idol, Victor, perform in a showing of Oliver Twist. They had been inseparable, but she stayed behind to teach and to raise a family while Yuuri went off to try his luck in America.

 

He stretched a bit to shake the memories from clouding his head. Turning back to her, he nodded for her to follow.

 

“I—I have something I want to show you…please watch.” He bowed his head, and led her to the school’s small theatre.

 

Plugging his phone into the speakers, he took a deep breath, and waited.

The music started soft and slow. His voice cracked in the opening notes, pining for a love that he had lost. The ballad was from a show he had seen only once. Even now, the memory brought tears to his eyes.

 

_Stammi vicino_ __  
Non te ne andare  
Ho paura di perderti

He threw himself into the movements, reflecting with his body the pain and fear in the lyrics. In the last quiet moment, he knelt to the ground in supplication. He was shaking with release after months of self-doubt. His mind drifted to the man his movements copied so exactly.

 

“Yuuri! That was amazing!” Yuko’s clapping pierced through the sound of his heart beating. “It looked exactly like Victor’s performance. It’s amazing how you pulled that off! I thought you’d be too depressed…”

 

Yuuri nodded. “I was, but that feeling was…dissatisfying. I wanted to remember why I love the theatre so much, and it got me thinking about the time we spent here, copying all of his performances. It sounds stupid, but I thought that if I could perform like Victor, I’d remember why I wanted to leave so much. I’ve…”

 

Yuko reached out to him, only to be knocked over by a small chain of children barreling into her knees.

 

“Yuuri! Yuuri! You’ve gained weight!”

“Yuuri! I can’t believe you lost the lead in that play!”

“Yuuri! You still haven’t gotten a girlfriend yet?”

 

“Well…” he stammered.

 

“Girls! Stop it! Yuuri, do you remember my triplets? Aria, Sonata, Concerto. They’re big fans of yours. And they will be more polite, or I’ll be talking to their father about their behavior.”

 

The girls only looked encouraged by the threat. Yuuri gave a small wave and answered a few of their questions.

 

“Really though,” Yuko smiled, “the whole family is routing for you! Just let me know the next time you want to come and work through some things, I’ll open the place up for you any time.”

 

Yuuri was grinning as he jogged home.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've never written much before. I decided to try my hand at fanfic to prepare for a creative writing class I'm taking in a few months. Any constructive criticism is welcome (since I really don't know what I'm doing). I'm going to try and keep up with this through Finals, but...you know. Will update when I get the chance.


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